*The next part will come out today and the new episode will come out next week. This is published on April 29, 2020. If you like this part, please comment and/or vote. That would be greatly appreciated. Have a blessed day. Enjoy!*

Louis gazed into the symbol closely, not having any idea what it means. He's in a library in Glurfsburg in the early evening. As he scanned the pages that delved into its originality, he saw someone in the corner of his eyes. When he glanced up, he noticed Gluntz setting her coffee cup down on the wooden table beside her and holding a file in her hand. She had her normal cap on and picked out a book to read. She seemed in a trance to not notice Louis gazing at her. She set the book down and opened the first page of the book, reading to herself quietly.

He could watch her focused on the book all day, which distracted him from what he's doing before she came in.

Gluntz glanced up just in time for Louis to gasp a bit and focus back on the pages he's examining.

"Hi, Louis," Gluntz whispered loudly so that Louis could hear her with a small friendly wave.

Louis blushed a bit but it subsided. "Hey, Gluntz. How are you doing?"

Gluntz sighed a bit. "Well, I'm in this new case. I just investigated a crime scene and...well, it doesn't look easy."

"How do you mean?"

Gluntz gestured Louis to sit next to her, which caused his heart to race. Louis shook his head and sat by her closely so that he could see what's she's looking at.

"Snerz escaped just a few nights ago and...well, there's something like this." Gluntz showed him a picture of dead guards with blood-stained on the floor and the walls.

"Oh man," Louis responded with a soft exhale.

Gluntz showed him another picture of other dead guards. "This just appeared after we got the security cameras back online."

"Do you mean that someone hacked into them?"

"Yeah. All we heard were shouts and screams and small talk but that's about it."

"What's the small talk? Who is it in between?"

Gluntz shrugged her shoulders. "We know that one of them is definitely Snerz but...we don't know who the other voice is. And...we only had this as a conversation."

She took out a recorder and played the tape.

"I see that you are looking for a new business partner, am I right?" They heard Snerz questioning whoever was rescuing him.

"I believe we need more work than what it seems," They heard a mysterious stranger answer. "Jeckles is dead. They removed one snake head."

"But if that snake's head is chopped up...it could regrow...right?"

"The heads will be doubled...that's for sure," the man responded.

"So...when will we start?"

"Now."

Then there's a sound of a sawblade cutting through walls in the tape and then it ended.

"What snake are they talking about?" Louis muttered the question, mostly to himself.

"I didn't know snakes could regrow heads," Gluntz responded with an awestruck voice.

"I think they're aiming for it metaphorically."

Gluntz sighed deeply. "You know what the worst part is...you don't get to do this with a partner--"

Suddenly, an idea sparked in her brain.

"Wait, you can be my partner!" Gluntz proposed with an excited smile.

"What?"

"Yeah, you're a detective, aren't you?" Gluntz recalled excitedly.

Louis nodded his head. "Yes, ma'am."

"You can be my partner!"

"Well, I don't work with the B.A.D.G.U.Y.S force--"

"It doesn't matter. We could solve this case together...if-if you want to," Gluntz stuttered in her last sentence, rubbing her arm nervously.

Louis gave thought about it. He was investigating this weird symbol that had the snakes crossing over each other like an X mark. Maybe they both could tackle this case together. After all, they both had the same case...just different objectives.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea to be partners. I think I got something that might help us," Louis responded with a soft smile.

"Yay!" Gluntz cheered with a big goofy grin on her face.

~.~

The fire in the fire pit was blazing controllably while Cat, Sam, Guy, and Gabriella sat around the fire and roasting marshmallows, laughing amongst themselves in the lone island known as Cat's Fantasy Island.

"That's a fun story," Gabriella pointed out while giggling at Sam's story about the time where he and Guy met and were on the run to get the chickeraffe home.

"Yeah, and we've been best friends ever since!" Sam inferred to Guy, who's smiling softly at him.

"Also to note that it's hectic as well," Guy added with a small laugh.

Cat gasped dramatically while putting his elbow on his knee and resting his chin on his palm. "Taking care of an animal must have been hard for you."

"Eh, at first. It gets easier once you know what you're doing," Guy responded. "Just a little easier."

Sam smiled brightly. "As we know, Mr. Jenkins is safe back home on Chickeraffe island."

"Aren't those nearly extinct?" Cat inquired with a raised brow.

"According to resources, there are about seventeen chickeraffes left in the world," Gabriella indicated, which made Cat smiled.

"What resources do you get that information from?" Guy questioned.

"The library," Gabriella answered with a small smile.

"Library?" Both Guy and Sam responded simultaneously.

Suddenly a library building popped in front of four of them from the ground, causing the shore to shake. Cat opened the big library doors and showed all the books from the bottom to the highest shelves that reached the ceilings.

Cat gestured the library dramatically. "The Library. Also known as the 'Core of Knowledge'."

"How did you...do that?" Guy pointed at the library building behind him.

"It's part of his mind," Gabriella analyzed. "He's able to form things through his mind like libraries and towns and beaches and sorts. But...never people. Don't ask me why."

"Huh," Guy responded while pondering.

"Step right inside--would you, could you eat green eggs and ham in the library?" Cat asked with a purr.

"Uh...yes, I would," Sam responded with a bit of excitement

Gabriella giggled at Cat's joke and Sam's response, which made Sam smile a bit at her. Guy noticed this while giving his briefcase buddy a teasing smirk. The four of them walked into the library.

Sam rolled his eyes and his blush subsided.

"What types of books do you have?" Guy asked, enlarging his eyes in shock.

"Hmm...let's see," Cat pondered while examining the books. He waved his hand and the tall ladder appeared in front of him. He climbed up to the highest shelf on one side and began nitpicking the books.

"Hmm, Fifty Shades of Grey," Cat notified with a smirk. "Last time I heard, there were two hundred and fifty-six shades of grey. So does every shade of color out there. Apparently, someone needs to do more research."

Cat tossed the book and the book crashed onto the wooden table in front of Guy, Sam, and Gabriella.

Cat pulled out another book. "Hmm...The Hunger Games. A book about slaughtering teens and dystopian Communist government. Apparently, within this chaos, there's a love triangle going on. What a cliche."

Cat threw the other book back behind him and pulled out another book. "Oooh! Lookey there! A vampire love story...how toxic. The reason why this girl is ever in love with this vampire dude was that he likes to stalk her. I guess some girls like their stalkers."

Cat dropped the book while noticing an orange book. "Look, it's the Lorax! He speaks for the trees! He's saying, 'All trees are humans...if they are cut down, they will be nothing but shreds of paper or just simple firewood to keep us warm'! Pfft, please."

Cat tossed the book aside.

While Cat was searching and naming more books, Guy instantly regretted asking what type of books he had.

However, Sam noticed a golden book on the lower shelf and slowly took it out. He saw the front cover that had the symbol engraved on it. The unfamiliar symbol of a circle with two snakes crossing each other. He opened it and examined it.

The first thing he saw on the first page was the list of names. Names he wasn't familiar with. Gabriella suddenly noted that Sam was gazing into the golden book.

"Sam...that book is off-limits," Gabriella whispered to Sam, which Guy heard and noticed Sam reading the golden book.

Sam immediately glanced up at her with a raised brow. "Why?"

Cat saw this too and slid down the ladder to get back with his group. "Because that book has cult and rituals that were...pretty bad...like Rated R bad. Why don't we put that one away before you read further into it, hm?"

Cat snatched the book out of Sam's grasp and shoved it back to its place.

"Then, why do you have it?" Guy questioned. "If you could make these things out of pure imagination in your own mind, then why is that book there?"

Cat shrugged his shoulders. "I thought it was interesting at the time...but...I instantly regretted keeping it. Whatever thing you read, sometimes it doesn't go away that easy. That's why it's on the lowest shelf in the whole library and...mostly off to the side. Why don't we sleep for the night? Maybe tomorrow, we could explore what's going on with the maddening world we live in."

Cat guided the three of them out of the library. Guy stared back at the golden book from the side, pondering about why the book would be here. What was that book about and why does he have a feeling like he should read it? Those answers couldn't be solved when the library doors shut quickly behind them.

~.~

Within the starlight night, the fire was put out and the waves crashing into the shore as the only sound that was heard. Gabriella slept on the beach comfortably while Sam slept between her and Guy.

Guy had his back turned on both Sam and Gabriella, clenching his teeth in agony. His eyes were squeezed tight while tossing and turning on the bed of sand.

Guy's Dream:

Guy was shaking and laying on the reeky bed of a cold dark cell. He was too paralyzed to stand up and walk anywhere. He heard screams from someone else but he didn't know who. The screams continued on louder and louder, screaming out for help. Guy had the urge to get up and see who was it calling for help but he--he couldn't. Something was holding him down. When he gained his vision, he noticed that he's strapped down on the bed with the chains. The more he listened to the screams, the more the screams became familiar.

Help! Someone help me!" Guy heard Sam's pleading and desperate voice calling out to him.

"Sam?" Guy muttered while struggling to get off the bed with the chains tied around his body. "SAM!"

"Help me!" Sam shouted from outside of Guy's door.

"Sam! Sam! I'm right here!" Guy screamed while hearing the water running. He glanced down to realize that the water was flooding the room he's in.

The water was slowly rising towards the bed, causing him to breathe in panic. He thrusted his body against the chains to get up from the bed but he couldn't get out of them. Guy kept looking back down to see if the flood was rising any further as his orange furred arms were touched by the cold water.

"Sam!" Guy cried out while the water washed over his body. He held his breath in as his face was buried underneath the water. He kept throwing his body against the chains to get out of them but he began to lose his ability to hold his breath in. He exhaled with bubbles forming out of his mouth. The water traveled inside of his lungs, suffocating him more.

Guy screamed in the underwater, his insides burning from using his vocal cords to scream out for help. He's still chained to the bed, slowly passing out. His eyelids became heavy. He gave in by closing his eyes and let his body be tied down on the bed.

It's sudden that he felt the weight of the chains off of him. He's floating upwards, which he couldn't have any idea of whether it's towards the surface or towards the deep bottom of the water.

As soon as Guy popped his head out of the water, he gasped heavily to regain his breath while snapping his eyelids open immediately. He panted while whipping his head around in pure panic. He crawled out of what he could assume was a pond and his hands began to tremble. He stared down at the cold dirt and then moved his head to realize that he's in the foggy forest. He slowly stood up to his feet and shivered from the coldness around him.

"H-Hello?!" Guy stuttered while trying to boom his voice in the forest. "I-Is anyone here?! Can somebody help me?!"

His body shivered while noticing a few tears slipping out from his eyes.

There were so many questions racking his brain. He knew that this was just a nightmare but he couldn't help but wonder if they're even real. He kept having them over and over again. They have to mean something, right?

Guy walked through the dark misty forest, with anxiety and fear in his eyes. He swept his gaze, not knowing what he's doing here. Suddenly, he heard crying and whimpering from somebody. He did not hesitate to check on whoever was crying in the forest. With a sigh of relief, he saw that it's Sam, Michellee, and E.B huddled together.

"Sam! Michellee! E.B!" Guy shouted with joy to find them. "Are you guys okay?!"

Michellee shot a grief-stricken glance up at Guy. "Stay away from us!"

"Wh-What?" Guy uttered while noticing E.B laying in her mother's arms, her face seemed pale and lifeless. "Is she--?"

"Stay away from us!" Michellee cried out while holding her dead daughter in her arms. She was glaring but...it's not directly at him. Guy had a feeling it was at someone behind him...someone dangerous. He slowly turned around and faced the danger of a person until his pupils shrunk in terror.

He saw that it was Guy himself standing behind him except his orange fur was pale and his crumpled hat appeared to be almost destroyed. His eyes were pale as if there's no hope left in him. Guy broadened his eyes more while glancing back at his family cowering back against the tree.

Michellee began to edge tears in her eyes as she glanced at Sam. "Sam, get behind me."

"But, Michellee--"

"Now!" Michellee demanded while her body trembled.

Sam hid behind her like a scared child. Guy shifted his glance back at his pale self, who's slowly trudging towards them. Before Guy could fight against himself, something grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him out of the way.

Guy yelped while reaching his hand out grab onto his other self's shoulder but he couldn't reach him. Guy was thrusted back against the tree as thick branches and twigs were wrapped around his body.

"Stop!" Guy shouted at his other self, tears streaming down on his face. He struggled against the branches as he watched his other self holding his hands out with dead eyes staring at Michellee blankly. It's almost like he's a zombie with absolutely no control of his own actions and body.

"Don't hurt her!" Guy screamed on the top of his lungs as the branches began to hold him close.

There's a red glow in his other self's hand that was ready to fire at Michellee, while Michellee was glaring back at his other-self.

"Guy, I know that it's not you!" Michellee yelled with tears streaming down on her face. "Snap out of it!"

Before anyone made an action, the red ball shot out of his other self's hand and hit Michellee. Michellee flew over Sam and crashed her head against the tree behind them. Sam dodged out of her way when she collapsed on the floor next to E.B, his pupils shrinking in sheer terror.

"No! Stop! Stop!" Guy shouted at his other self with an angry glare.

Sam whipped his glance up at the Guy in front of him with tears in his eyes. "Guy! Stop! Please."

Guy, being tied up by the branches, had his heart shattered when he heard his best friend's pleading voice.

"Please, stop. It's me, Sam. Sam I Am," Sam pleaded, staring up at his best friend, who's wasn't really him. "Please, Guy. You know me...we're briefcase buddies...right?"

The fake Guy stopped and gazed at his best friend. There's a bit of light in his pale eyes when he looked into Sam's desperate ones. His lips trembled while closing his dead eyes for a brief second. Then, he reopened them with the familiar symbol that was glimmering in his eyes.

"Y-You're not real," the fake Guy uttered while extending his hands out towards Sam.

Before Sam could convince him again, the red ball of fire shot out of the pale man's hand and thrusted Sam back, causing his neck to snap. He tumbled next to Michellee, blood oozing out of his head.

"NO!!!" Guy cried out while trying to get out of the branches but they were wrapping him all over his body and now covering his face. "No! No! Stop! What are you?!"

Guy had his mouth covered and then his eyes. Everything became pitch black for a moment. Just for a moment.

Guy found himself reopening his eyes, his vision was nothing but a blur only for a brief second. And then, he saw Sam's body along with Michellee's and E.B's dead bodies lying in front of him.

"No...No!" Guy cried, his body trembling. Then, he glanced down at his hands and soon realized that they're covered with blood...their blood.

"No--NO!!!! NO!" Guy screamed, denying it while hearing their screams and pleads. "No! I-No!"

"Guy, wake up, you're dreaming. Come on, wake up, buddy."

Guy heard Sam's soft voice but the screams were louder than his buddy's reassuring voice.

"Sam?!" Guy recognized instantly while crying. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!!"

~.~

Reality:

Sam shook Guy gently in the shoulders, who's crying and about to scream in his sleep. "Guy, come on, wake up."

"Is he okay?" Gabriella asked with concern in her voice.

Sam didn't answer her question, not because he wanted to but because he couldn't focus on whether Guy's okay or not. All he could think about was how to snap Guy out of those nightmares.

"Sam," Guy muttered in his sleep while tossing and turning.

"Yeah, it's me, buddy. It's okay, you're dreaming," Sam reassured Guy with a soft tone. "Wake up."

Guy snapped his eyes open with a gasp while fidgeting his hands and his body trembling. "Wha-What? Where am I? Where's Michellee and E.B?!"

"They're on their trip. You're still in Cat's Fantasy Island," Sam answered soothingly.

Guy noticed Sam right away. "Sam?"

"Yeah. What's up, buddy?"

Guy immediately wrapped his arms around Sam and hugged him as tightly as he could to not let go of his best friend.

Sam hugged Guy slowly while nuzzling his head against his friend's. "Is everything okay, bud?"

Guy began to sob while shaking his head. "No...no."

Before Sam could ask any further questions, Guy cried a lot more than he normally would cry. Sam figured that all his briefcase buddy wanted to do was to hug him tightly and just let out a good cry.

Sam patted Guy's head while embracing him tightly back. "It's okay. It's okay. Whatever it is...it's just a nightmare."

"It felt so real," Guy sobbed an answer-back. "It felt so real."

"Shh, I know. But it's okay. It's okay," Sam soothed gently.

Gabriella was watching this and softly smile to herself. She blushed a little when she saw Sam comforting his best friend. Wait, what was she thinking? She shook that thought aside.

Cat appeared out of nowhere with his golf clothes on and a golf club with a wide grin without noticing Guy and Sam hugging each other. "I heard the wells of screams and sobs from Hole Nine. Is there a problem?"

Gabriella glanced up at her cat friend. "Guy's having another nightmare."

Cat whipped his glance at Guy sobbing into Sam's shoulder, losing his grin. "Alrighty then. Does Guy need to see a therapist? I mean, if he keeps having recurring nightmares--"

"Cat...not right now," Gabriella responded a bit, not wanting to ruin the moment between Sam and Guy.

Cat glanced at Sam and Guy again, clearing his throat. "Or...he just needs comfort."

Cat began to warm himself up while walking up towards both the briefcase buddies. "We know how you're feeling right now, Guy!"

"Cat-" Gabriella called out to him quietly.

Cat collapsed on his knees and hugged Guy and Sam dramatically while patting Guy on the back. "It's okay, Guy. We're here for you."

Gabriella noticed a dramatize sadness in Cat's voice while shaking her head in discouragement, knowing that Cat was just being dramatic.

Guy began to feel uncomfortable with Cat hugging him and stopped sobbing while wiping the remaining tears away. "You know...I'm just going to take a walk to clear my head."

"Do you need company?" Sam asked, remembering the last time that Guy was taking a walk alone, he hallucinated and fell unconscious. 

"Yeah, you could get easily lost in this island," Cat indicated intelligently.

Gabriella nodded her head in agreement.

Guy shook his head gently. "No, I'm fine. I--I just need to time to process."

"O-Okay," Sam stuttered, having the urge to insist but understanding that his friend needed time to process what's going on. He knew Guy will tell him eventually. Hopefully.

Guy began to have a guilty look on his face but he strolled away into the breezy night, alone in his thoughts.

Cat noticed this while twitching his ears. "You know what, I'm going to go too. Enjoy the rest of the night."

Cat headed off into a different direction, maybe to just play golf.

Sam frowned and gazed down at the sand, which Gabriella noticed.

"Is everything okay, Sam?" Gabriella inquired softly.

Sam looked back up at Gabriella while faking a smile. "Yeah, everything is okay. I'm...I'm just worried about Guy."

Both Sam and Gabriella sat down while Sam lost his plastered smile and gazed at the ground again.

"He must have meant a lot to you," Gabriella indicated with a soft small smile.

"Yeah...he's a first friend I ever made...a real friend," Sam responded with a sad sigh.

Gabriella frowned at the thought.

Sam chuckled sadly. "I never had anyone stuck around me for this long. Or even thought about putting together my birthday party."

"You never have a birthday party?"

"No...I wouldn't tell them because...well...I don't know why I never told Guy when my birthday is. Everyone that I know celebrated it and it was fun and magical."

"I can imagine," Gabriella replied, a bit wistful in her tone.

Sam frowned more he thought about his best friend. "Now...I'm just getting worried about Guy. I know that he'll get through whatever he's getting through...as long as I'm with him or Michellee and E.B are with him--he should be fine. But...I can't watch him suffer in his sleep. Sometimes I'm a bit afraid that he won't know the difference between reality and hallucination...or think our friendship was fake...do you think he'll think that, Gabriella?"

Gabriella pondered for a moment and then put her hand on Sam's shoulder. "If you guys are truly friends, there's no way he'll ever forget that. From what I could tell, Guy seemed smart. He'll know that his love for you and others will be the only thing that's real. Take that away from him...he'll have nothing left. I think Cat could relate to this."

"Cat?"

Gabriella nodded her head. "He used to have two kids...Thing One and Thing Two."

"Oh, I remember them," Sam responded with a chuckle. "They were such trouble-makers."

"They're dead."

"Oh," Sam gasped a bit in surprise. "Who killed them?"

"I don't know...I wasn't there. All I know that it hurt Cat when Thing One and Thing Two died. Even though, he won't admit it--I know some things can hurt him even if he pretends that everything is fine."

"How long ago was both Thing One and Thing Two killed?"

"Five years ago."

Sam softened his gaze while looking around the shore. "I'm sorry."

"He won't talk about it."

"Then...how did you know?"

Gabriella sighed. "I found out about them in the library. Cat seemed to have fun with them. Even with the two kids in that house...and the goldfish."

"Hmph. He's going to people's houses now, is he?"

"Well, he used to walk into houses and caused chaos. In the end, he took the money and left. I'm pretty sure those kids' mother wouldn't be too happy to find out all of her jewelry is gone," Gabriella replied with a giggle.

Sam chuckled along with her. "Yeah. Cat is crazy. That's for sure."

Gabriella had a blush on her face but she quickly hid it with her poofy hair. "Yeah. He is."

To Be Continued...